A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or of the patent disclosure as it appears in the public accessible Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all other rights of copyright.
Sports fans desire easy access to information such as the location, participants, and date and time of sporting events. Conventional sources of such information include periodicals, television and radio broadcasts, and team schedule cards. Periodicals and broadcasts provide inadequate information delivery for various reasons. A typical sports page or news broadcast covers only the events of the preceding day, the current day, and the following day, leaving the fan unable to plan for future events. The fan must repeatedly consult these sources by purchasing additional periodicals or watching subsequent broadcasts. Also, the information content is over-inclusive from the perspective of a focused sports enthusiast. Periodicals and broadcasts provide information on all participants of a variety of sports. Much of this information is irrelevant to a fan interested in the schedule of a single participant. Moreover, the information has poor portability characteristics. Intact periodicals are bulky. Disassembled periodicals, such as individual newspaper pages, are delicate and easily misplaced. Obviously, information delivered through broadcast media is fleeting and cannot be subsequently consulted or transported.
Team schedule cards are undesirable because they use very small print and are difficult to read. The cards are easily damaged and misplaced. The fan must remember to carry the card even though, much of the time, it serves no useful purpose.
Some of the disadvantages of these conventional information sources are overcome by portable electronic devices capable of storing information. Conventional devices, such as electronic day planners, can store long-term information of specific interest. However, the user must provide all of the stored information and carry out the often complicated, time-consuming task of entering the data into the device. The more comprehensive the information, the longer it takes to program, the greater the likelihood for error, and the more difficult it is to access.
The present invention provides a pre-programmed, portable electronic device, which also serves as a timepiece, for displaying daily schedule information of a particular sports team including the dates, times, locations, and participants of events involving that team, and selectively displaying past and future scheduling information. The device comprises, in one form thereof, a display contained in a wristwatch housing, a plurality of switches, and a processor coupled to the display which receives inputs from the switches. The processor includes a timer to measure elapsed time, and a memory which stores the schedule data and the application program which controls the operation of the processor. The device provides a continuous display of the date and time in addition to information about the location, opponent, and start time of any game or match on that day involving the particular sports team. The user can manipulate the switches to sequentially review past information and preview future information. An alarm automatically alerts the user when a game or match begins.
Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a portable electronic device which displays scheduling information for sporting events according to the user""s commands.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable electronic device which automatically provides a daily summary of the currently scheduled game activity for a desired team.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a portable electronic device which permits the user to review and preview the scheduled game activity of a desired team.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a portable electronic device which alerts the user when a scheduled game begins.